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5 things Hillary Clinton told USA TODAY

Susan Page, USA TODAY
11:26 a.m. CDT June 10, 2014

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers remarks after being presented the 2013 Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize December 6, 2013 in Washington, DC. Clinton received the award for her work in the areas of women's rights and internet freedom. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)(Photo: Win McNamee Getty Images)

1. Standing up for women and girls. No issue seems to engage her more than the treatment worldwide of women and girls, a longtime interest, from engaging women in the peace process in Liberia to breaking the glass ceiling in the U.S. She expresses concern about what will happen to hard-won steps in Afghanistan with the withdrawal of U.S. forces. "There will be a concerted effort by some in the society to absolutely stop the progress and perhaps even regress."

2. She really doesn't like Russian President Vladimir Putin. When asked about Putin's sexist dismissal of her last week ("Maybe weakness is not the worst quality for a woman") she notes dryly, "He and I have had a lot of verbal volleys." She says she worries about the direction he is taking Russia and "warned against it" in a memo she wrote for President Obama "on my way out the door" of the State Department.

3. Elizabeth Warren: Move over. The Massachusetts senator has become a liberal hero by championing the issue of growing inequality. In the interview, Hillary Clinton pounds the table in discussing the topic. "If you get so unequal that people believe they don't have a chance, that the field isn't level for them and their children, that puts democracy at risk."

4. Bill Clinton is an asset. When she ran for the Senate in 2000 and the presidency in 2008, Hillary Clinton's supporters sometimes saw former president Bill Clinton as a mixed blessing, especially as she sought to establish herself as an independent political force. No such reluctance is apparent now, and she cites his policy achievements as president in discussing what could be accomplished down the road.

5. A vote for handwriting. She says she wrote the book draft pen to paper. "Doing it in longhand and then correcting it in longhand help me think through what I want to say," she says. Academic research that shows handwriting provides unique benefits in brain development rings true to her.